"He will make a lot of money playing for England" - Former cricketer defends star batter after pulling out of IPL 2025

Former England batter Mark Butcher has strongly backed Harry Brook's decision to skip IPL 2025, saying he will earn considerably even while featuring for the national team. Butcher felt the youngster made the right decision, with a potentially career-defining home season coming up for the national team.

Brook has skipped IPL for the second successive time, which could even get him banned from the lucrative league for the next couple of years. The Englishman, who secured a contract of ₹6.25 crore from the Delhi Capitals, cited that he wants to prepare for what is bound to be a crucial summer for him and the team.

Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, Butcher praised the ECB for giving the players handsome compensation to protect them from outside influences. He feels the decision will bode well for Brook, who can earn well despite not playing in the IPL. He said:

"This could be a career-defining, I think it's a team-defining or a project-defining summer for England and McCullum and Key and Stokes. So therefore I think he's made the right call. And he will make a lot of money playing for England. It's one of the great advantages of being a capped, contracted England player, your compensation is very good. And that's part of something that I know Rob Key and the ECB have been in long discussions about, right the way back in 2022 when he took over.

"If we're going to protect ourselves, protect the national team and the national sport from outside influences, we need to make sure that the players we want and that we need are recompensed equitably with those tournaments."

The Yorkshire batter had also pulled out of IPL 2024 due to his grandmother's demise. He was part of the SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2023 edition but managed only 190 runs in 11 matches, including a hundred.

"This summer is going to be huge" - Mark Butcher on England's assignments

Mark Butcher. (Image Credits: Getty)

The 52-year-old reckons Brook's decision will also be popular among the fans, given some players take a break from international cricket after playing in the IPL. He stated:

"This summer is going to be huge: Six Test matches, five against India, the Zimbabwe Test in May before that, various white-ball commitments as well that he will be involved in and then the Ashes. If you're going to take a break - I mean England fans will be saying: 'Good on you, hats off', because I think people get a bit sick of hearing players say they need a break and then you don't see them playing for England when they've spent two and a half months at the IPL. So it will be a popular decision among the fans and supporters here."

The Englishmen's home season begins in late May with a white-ball series against the West Indies.